New cannon a blast for Lamar

Published 2:33 pm, Saturday, September 29, 2012

The Lamar University cannon was in full effect during the game against Langston University at Provost Umphrey Stadium on Saturday, September 22, 2012.
Photo taken:
Randy Edwards/The Enterprise

The Lamar University cannon was in full effect during the game against Langston University at Provost Umphrey Stadium on Saturday, September 22, 2012.
Photo taken:
Randy Edwards/The Enterprise

New cannon a blast for Lamar

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Don Burnett remembered the loud booms of a cannon after Lamar touchdowns when he attended home games in the 1980s.

With the tug of a lanyard today, the 1992 Lamar graduate will create another deafening blast.

The four remaining Lamar football home games will include blasts of a 14-inch cannon that fires 10-gauge black powder blanks, triggering a "boom" loud enough to burst an eardrum.

But that shouldn't be a concern, said Brad McGowan, Lamar's assistant athletic director for development. Pointed toward the field from atop the grassy embankment against the Montagne Center, the cannon is about 100 feet from the nearest spectators, and that's far enough away from fans to blunt the estimated 160-decibel blast.

"The first time it got shot at the game, I was watching the fans more than I was paying attention to the cannon, and you saw everybody jump," McGowan said. "It was funny to watch."

A number of other schools use a cannon to signal when the home team scores. Lamar players said they tired of hearing cannon blasts during the team's lopsided loss Sept. 15 at Hawaii.

They were glad to hear those blasts at a home game for the first time last week against Langston, when Lamar scored four touchdowns and a field goal and won 31-0.

Lamar coach Ray Woodard said he had the cannon fired at a practice in the week before the game so his players would not be caught off guard.

Wide receiver Kevin Johnson scored a touchdown and was still surprised, perhaps because he was in the end zone closest to the cannon.

"That time, it got me," Johnson said. "I'm not going to lie."

Burnett said some fans approached him at the game to ask if he could fire the cannon at local high school games, adding it might be used at upcoming Lumberton and Silsbee games.

Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity members own and operate the cannon. Burnett, a member of the fraternity's alumni association, stores the cannon for them.

"I don't think a fraternity house would be a good place to keep a cannon," he joked.

The fraternity and Burnett, an insurance agent and a member of the Lumberton Chamber of Commerce, sought permission from the school to fire the cannon at games. They did not get the cannon soon enough to receive permission from Lamar to use it at the home opener Sept. 8.

"All these bigger schools have a cannon, and it seemed to be a tradition at the schools," said Tanner Mazzola, 21, a fraternity member and nursing major from Winnie. "We thought, 'Why not us?'"

Today, Burnett and Mazzola and a group of about five other fraternity members who call themselves the "firing squad" will operate the cannon. One person pulls the four-foot lanyard that triggers the cannon blast, and the others will help keep the area cleared of wandering spectators.

The cannon will be fired first when Lamar players take the field moments before kickoff. Other cannon firings will be whenever Lamar scores - including extra points and after a safety - and for all Lamar kickoffs.

For this game, squad members also will wave flags whenever the cannon is fired - one Texas flag, one Lamar flag and one fraternity flag.

For next season, the organization plans to have a custom built five-foot cannon with four-foot wheels that uses the same size shell. That model, costing an estimated $8,000, will be paid for by fraternity alumni, Burnett added.